"If someone spends four hours writing a really good post and makes $1, and this happens to them on every post - then they see someone else make a post with horrible quality and make $200 - eventually that first person will leave cause they will realize, it's not about quality, it's about who your rich friends are."

Isn't this the case with blogging in general? The difference is that people may see Steemit as an easy way to make money blogging and can easily see all the crap content that gets high praise. I've been in this situation myself and it can be discouraging but actually, this is still the easiest platform to make money for new bloggers and as active user base grows, quality level will continue to rise as well. Much more so nowadays when I look at the top trending, I feel like the posts deserve the rewards they are receiving. I think this trend will continue as more quality creators join.

Isn't there a plan to have "communities" for different interests, discusssions, Reddit style? If there was blogging and forum style communication, then why wouldn't people use Steemit instead of Reddit if they can make even a few pennies to play with?

Have you ever used Plenty of Fish dating site? When you join you get a pm from a PoF ambassador who gives tips for how to be successful on the site. They have videos teaching the habits of the most successful users and how not to feel bad when you are rejected. You will be rejected many many times but that's just part of the game and it happens to most people. What if there was a similar crash course available for noobs? A pm is sent out with links to guides upon first signing in to your account.